Dunmurry train bombing

Dunmurry train bombing
The Dunmurry Station
Details
Date17 January 1980
LocationDunmurry, near Belfast
Coordinates54°33′39.2″N 5°59′35.2″W / 54.560889°N 5.993111°W / 54.560889; -5.993111
CountryNorthern Ireland
LineBelfast–Dublin railway line
CausePremature detonation of IRA bomb
Statistics
Trains1
PassengersUnknown
Deaths3
Injured5
List of UK rail accidents by year

The Dunmurry train bombing was a premature detonation of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) incendiary bomb aboard a Ballymena to Belfast passenger train service on 17 January 1980.

The blast engulfed a carriage of the train in flames, killing three and injuring five others. One of the dead and the most seriously injured survivors were volunteers of the IRA. After the blast, the organisation issued a statement acknowledging responsibility, apologising to those who were harmed and stated that it was 'grave and distressing' but an 'accident' caused by the 'war situation'.[1]

  1. ^ F.A.C.T. Train bomb 18 Jan 1980 Archived 26 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 4 March 2007